FBI’s number two quits amid Trump criticism
The FBI's deputy director has stepped down from his position after Donald Trump accused him of ..
The FBI's deputy director has stepped down from his position after Donald Trump accused him of being biased and acting in favour of his 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton.
A government source confirmed that Andrew McCabe will stop work immediately but remain on the FBI payroll until March when he is expected to retire.
The end to his tenure comes after the 49-year-old became fully eligible for a pension after spending 20 years working in the bureau.
Mr McCabe and fired FBI director James Comey had key roles in the agency's investigation into Mrs Clinton's emails.
Mrs Clinton was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in her misuse of a personal email server while serving as secretary of state.
Both were also involved in the initial stages of an ongoing probe into Mr Trump's campaign and whether it colluded with Russia during the election.
The US leader has repeatedly called the allegations "fake news" and claimed the FBI was biased in pursuing the investigation.
Special prosecutor and former FBI director Robert Mueller is now in charge of leading the investigation.
Mr Trump had also hit out at Mr McCabe on Twitter after it emerged that his wife received a campaign contribution when she ran for office in Virginia in 2015 from an ally of Mrs Clinton – the then-Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe.
He questioned how Mr McCabe could be in charge of the investigation into Mrs Clinton when his wife had received donations from "Clinton puppets".
How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 23 December 2017
The White House has since said it had nothing to do with Mr McCabe's departure from the FBI.
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Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: "The President wasn't part of this decision-making process."
However, she said the US leader stood by his criticism of Mr McCabe.
